


artificial cherry

by dewdropsinthemorning



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, M/M, Sickfic, Slice of Life, hyuckie is sickie :(, i'm disgusted by the amount of fluff, lawstudent!hyuck, like so much fluff, mark takes the opportunity to outwit him, notmentionedintheficatallbutmarkstudiesmedicinelol, veryveryveryworriedboyfriend!mark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-30 21:11:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19411492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dewdropsinthemorning/pseuds/dewdropsinthemorning
Summary: when donghyuck catches a cold and refuses to take his medicine, mark has to resort to "other means" to get him to do so (aka bribery at its finest).





	artificial cherry

**Author's Note:**

> hi hi! <3
> 
> this is very unbeta-d so please look past the mistakes :0 
> 
> english is also my second language so... forgive me for any grammatical errors as well! 
> 
> this is just fluff. like pure fluff. i don't know what to tell you. 
> 
> with that being said, lee donghyuck, i love you.

“hyuck, you can’t avoid drinking your medicine forever. you’re going to _have_ to drink it at some point,” mark sighs as he stands in front of the blanket cocoon before him, a bottle of cough syrup in one hand and a cup of water in the other. 

after a long week of cramming for his exams and making sure he stays on top of his law internship, donghyuck had managed to catch a cold. if his stuffed nose and pale visage didn't say enough, his booming cough and soaring fever sure did. 

“no i don’t,” comes a small voice from underneath the covers, “just leave me alone to die." 

although donghyuck didn’t mean it too, his voice had come out way raspier than he had intended. 

“baby,” mark lets out softly as he sets down the contents of his hands on donghyuck’s study desk. before he knows it, mark's walking towards the younger, knee consequently dipping into his bed. 

“mark lee no matter how much you ‘ _baby_ ’ me, i’m still not going to drink that flavored poison you people call medicine,” donghyuck groans out softly as he feels the left side of his bed dip down. 

he then decides to peek out from underneath his covers, regretting it immediately when the bright light from his window enters his eyes. 

mark’s heart further weakens as he stares down at his boyfriend. the regular hint of rose no longer tinted donghyuck’s cheeks. the latter’s eyes no longer glinted with that regular mischievousness that mark learned to both fear and love. five years together and mark still manages to be completely heartbroken whenever the latter remotely feels even a TINY BIT under the weather. but then again, it’s not like he can help it. 

mark’s hand then automatically lowers itself to donghyuck’s forehead. he winces when it finally makes the contact. as expected, donghyuck's fever had not subsided. in fact, mark thinks it might’ve even gotten worse.

“donghyuck if you don’t drink your medicine _now_ i’m pretty sure i can cook a fried egg on your forehead in a few minutes. you’re burning up,” mark says as his hand slowly draws down to the younger’s cheeks. 

donghyuck looks up at mark before a weak smile spreads across his face.

“you can’t even cook a regular fried egg.” 

“hey. that was one time. and i’ll have you know that i’ve been practicing a lot lately. i’m basically the master of fried eggs now. i’d let you try them yourself but you’d have to be healthy and actually functional to do that, hmm?” mark retorts. 

“i’m fiiiiiiine mark. i’m just tired. and really hot. but also really cold. and i also think my shirt has enough sweat on it to make a whole bottle of salt,” donghyuck responds, trying hard not to let a cough attack overpower him. 

he fails. 

twenty seconds later of donghyuck coughing up his lungs and mark reaching down to rub at the latter’s chest, donghyuck finally guiltily looks up at mark. the older says nothing. he instead opts to raise an eyebrow to donghyuck, as if to say ‘i told you so’. 

donghyuck hates that look. not because it means that he was wrong, but because it means that mark was right. and donghyuck HATES it whenever mark is right. 

the hand that mark had previously used to soothe out donghyuck’s chest then returns itself to the latter’s cheeks. 

“baby,” mark starts again, eyes still staring down at the younger, this time with more worry and pain in them. 

donghyuck curls himself towards the sound. how does mark manage to not only embody all of the earth’s warmth in his body, but in his voice as well? ugh. donghyuck really despises how soft he gets whenever he’s ill.

“i know being sick is annoying and i know _I’M_ annoying but you really do need to drink your medicine bubba. otherwise, how else are you going to continue to be lee donghyuck, conqueror of the law and hot boyfriend of mark lee?” mark says as his hand slowly makes its way up to donghyuck’s hair. 

gross, sweat. but also, ow. donghyuck, sick. 

donghyuck only groans at mark’s words. 

mark continues. 

“i promise that whenever this is over with, i’ll take you anywhere you want to go. that new boba shop that just opened? done. that cute little ice cream shop down the street? finished. that really expensive brazilian steakhouse downtown? maaaaaaaayyybe,” mark says through a chuckle as donghyuck’s hand rises up to slap at his chest. 

“pleaaassseee?” mark tries one last time. 

it takes a while before donghyuck finally stirs as a response to his words. it takes another while before donghyuck slowly raises himself from his bed, accompanied by one of mark’s hands on his shoulder and the other behind his back. 

donghyuck almost wants to punch the smile from mark’s face when his vision was finally clear enough to reveal a cheeky expression before him. 

“i hate you,” donghyuck says weakly through squinted eyes. 

another cough then comes right after his sentence. 

“ouch. forgive me i’m just trying to nurse the sunshine of my life back to his regular un-germy and wholesome self. call the police,” mark says as he slides off the bed to grab for the medicine a couple of feet away. 

“if i remembered how gross you are whenever i’m sick, i would do it less often,” donghyuck says as he watches mark pour the bottle’s content into a small cup from across the room. donghyuck feels a shiver go down his spine. 

“yeah well. if i knew how stubborn you were going to be this time, i would’ve tried harder in not letting it happen in the first place. i told you to take breaks in between studying,” mark retorts as he makes his way back to donghyuck, a small medicine cup in one hand and a glass of water in the other. mark chuckles to himself as he feels an odd sense of déjà vu. 

donghyuck grunts when mark finally retakes his seat on the edge of his bed. 

“i promise it's not bad. people love cherry! it’s just... this one’s not _really _cherry because it’s artificially made with chemicals and fake flavoring but hey, that’s basically the same thing!” mark says, a little bit too proud of himself.__

____

____

“wow, way to make it better,” donghyuck deadpans as he slowly reaches out for the two cups. 

“i’ll give you a kiss afterward,” mark says as donghyuck’s hands finally reach their destination. only instead of the liquids, donghyuck somehow mistakenly grabbed at mark’s wrists instead. he blames it on his sickened state and not on mark’s (totally not! tempting) offer just now. 

“you act like i even want your kiss,” donghyuck mumbles back, eyes peeking up to see that mark is already looking at him. mark, with his galaxy eyes and pretty smile. mark, with his oh so endearing quirks and heart of gold. and mark, whom donghyuck adores very, very, _very_ much. 

and so, feeling like he had just lost a fight he was never going to win in the first place, donghyuck gives in.

“...okay fine! i’ll drink your nasty ass medicine and i’ll get your stupid ass kiss. just… stop looking at me like that,” donghyuck fake shouts as he quickly retracts his hands from mark's wrists. 

“can’t help it. i’m _~~in love~~_ ”, mark says through a stupid grin as he wiggles his eyebrows at the shy man before him. 

“oh hush.” 

donghyuck braces himself as the viscous liquid finally makes contact with his tongue. he quickly downs the water in his other hand before he hears a soft chuckle from in front of him. it takes him a few seconds before he realizes that his scrunched-up face was the reason behind the sound. 

“masochist,” donghyuck manages to say through the revolting flavor overpowering his taste buds. 

“if you want me to be,” mark responds cheekily as he sends, what donghyuck could only describe as, the world’s most mischievous wink his way. 

donghyuck doesn’t know how many times he hits mark’s chest in a day, but he can guarantee that it’s probably around forty times if mark says as much dumb shit as he has within just this half-hour alone. 

during his state of unconscious squirming and writhing, courtesy of the repulsive liquid that he had just consumed, donghyuck hadn’t realized that mark had taken the two cups away from him. 

in fact, donghyuck hadn’t noticed anything remotely different at all until he opens his eyes to see that mark’s face is literally an inch away from his. 

he lets out a small gasp as the figure before him slowly reaches out with both hands to cup at his cheeks. 

“good job. who knew little evil balls of sunshine could too ingest medicine? that’ll be one for the news,” mark teases through a (way too big) smile. 

“how about you stop taking advantage of my weak mental and physical state and give me what you promised me,” donghyuck manages to say through a fake scowl. 

donghyuck tried to sound confident, he truly did, but he doesn’t know if the medicine is already hitting him or if mark is just a tad bit _too_ hot today (both looks and temperature-wise). maybe it’s the fact that mark is babying him into the next century or maybe it’s just because his weakened immune system is getting the best of him. still, something about the way mark is holding him is doing some (very unhealthy!) things to his heart. donghyuck deems that he better get well soon before mark lets it get to his head that he could make him weak by just _looking_ at him. 

(which he totally can do.)

mark lets out another small chuckle before he inches forward towards donghyuck’s face. 

donghyuck takes in a deep breath before slowly closing his eyes. 

the younger then lets out a confused sound when he then feels a familiar pair of lips not on his own, but on his left eye... and then his right. both of his cheeks then get the same treatment before the same pair of lips finally touch his forehead. 

the contact was so delicate that donghyuck couldn’t help but feel a familiar gush of warmth wash over him. the type of warmth that only mark lee could bring upon him. 

the older then slowly pulls back to meet with a very unfair pout on his boyfriend’s face. 

“hey, don’t give me that look. if i _actually_ kiss you then we’d both be sick. that’s when we're reaaallyy fucked,” mark chuckles before he continues, “i thought you ‘ _didn’t want my kiss_ ’,” mark finishes in a teasing tone. 

donghyuck fights the urge to lunge forward to plant a big and obnoxious kiss on mark’s lips. to prove that he doesn't care! to prove that mark talks too much! that he shouldn't be promising donghyuck half-assed things whenever he's sick! 

donghyuck would've succeeded in doing so if his annoying brain didn't tell him that mark was right. and once again, donghyuck HATES it whenever mark is right. 

as a result, his pout only grows bigger. 

“you really are a big baby whenever you’re sick, you know that?” mark says as he takes both of donghyuck’s hands. he brings them up to place a final kiss on one of them before he continues. 

“i’ll give you all the kisses you want whenever you’re better. we’ll go on a date, i’ll kiss you in public to satisfy that exhibitionist need of yours, and then you can continue to tell me how unfair our justice system is. deal?” 

if donghyuck had enough strength left in him he would retort against mark’s claim that he was an exhibitionist. but, seeing how his eyelids were getting heavier and his limbs weaker by the moment, donghyuck decides that that’s an argument for another time. 

mark moves off from the latter after registering his drop in energy. he then carefully slides one hand under donghyuck's knees and the other on his back to gently lower him back to his previous lying position. after ensuring that the younger was tucked back into his sheets, mark makes an effort to bend down for the empty cups that he had previously set down near the bed. he almost succeeds in doing so before a small wrist arises from the covers to weakly grab at his arms. 

donghyuck didn't have to say anything for mark to understand the message. 

guess the two cups will just have to wait. 

mark gently lowers himself back onto donghyuck’s bed. his head had just hit the bed’s headrest when a warm hand slowly places itself on top of his abdomen. 

“thank you baby,” comes a small voice from beside him. 

mark wasn’t sure if it was possible for the human heart to actually combust from pure love, but he was sure that if it WAS possible then he would be the first to experience it. 

“i love you,” the small voice finishes. 

possible. it was very possible. and mark had just experienced it. 

before he knows it, mark finds that his voice is speaking on its own. 

“and i love you. my small evil little ball of sunshine.”

**Author's Note:**

> told you it was pure fluff.
> 
> pls leave me a comment if you enjoyed the read! <33 
> 
> support the nct babies.


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